Ali Al Taweel’s Death Sentence and Torture

Sent to Dandelion Salad from a personal contact who wishes to remain anonymous
Nov. 15, 2013

Ali Al Taweel is an extreme example of the illegal, violent nature of the Bahrain legal system. It also shows that torture is widespread in the prisons to degrade detainees and extract confessions.

Ali is an uneducated young man, unable to read or write and the son of a fisherman. He was picked up because he was in Sitra when the demos were going on. He was tortured for weeks including being strung up like a chicken and sexually abused. There has not been an execution of a Bahraini since 1990s, the last execution was of a Bangladeshi in 2010.

Ali was picked up by the police on April 19th 2011 and tortured for 13 hours at Isa Town Police Station. He was accused of running over a policeman. They wanted him to implicate Sheikh Moqdad, one of the eleven leaders sentenced to life.

He was forced to sign an unseen confession, which he couldn’t have read anyway and the trial was a farce with no real defence.

There were no witnesses to the accident and disagreement where it even took place. The prosecution said Sitra but the BICI report said GCC Roundabout, in Manama. ( Para 1030.)

The main prosecution witness was his torturer, who’s already in court for torturing the doctors. BICI Report mentioned its concern about the injustice of this case.

His lawyer, for some reason did not take his case on to the Court of Cessation, after being tried in a Military Court.

He was sentenced to death on 29th September 2011.

He is kept in solitary for 23 hours a day and only released once a fortnight for a family visit. This is affecting his sanity and he has had no treatment for the torture he sustained.

There was an appeal on February 10th 2013, which he lost. Lawyers are taking his case to the Court of Cessation where he might get his sentence reduced to life imprisonment. But he is innocent and needs to be helped to restart his life.

Ali was 17 when captured and should not have been placed in an adult prison like many Bahraini children. He must be released.

Bahrain is really dangerous now with young men being picked up at night and four ladies were detained, for stopping the police abducting a relative.

If this young man is executed it will lead to demonstrations and more people will be killed and detained. Please contact your Congressman/woman and ask them to help Ali.

Saudi-backed security forces in Bahrain have used tear gas and sound bombs to disperse anti-regime protesters in the capital Manama.

Police forces also attacked demonstrators in the village of Nuwaidrat, south of Manama. Friday’s protests were called by the February 14 Coalition, a network of anti-regime activists who organize protests through social media. Since mid-February 2011, thousands of pro-democracy protesters have staged demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifah royal family to relinquish power. Bahraini forces, assisted by Saudi troops, have been cracking down on anti-government protesters, killing over 100 of them.

Operation: #OneMoreVote

The FCC voted to repeal net neutrality, letting internet providers like Verizon and Comcast impose new fees, throttle bandwidth, and censor online content. But we can stop them by using the Congressional Review Act (CRA). We need one more vote to win in the Senate, and we’re launching an Internet-wide push to get it.

Translate

The Golden Rule

“That which is hateful to you do not do to another ... the rest (of the Torah) is all commentary, now go study.” - Rabbi Hillel

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Disclaimer:

The views and/or opinions posted on all the blog posts and in the comment sections are of their respective authors, not necessarily those of Dandelion Salad.
All content has been used with permission from the copyright owners, who reserve all rights, and that for uses outside of fair use (an excerpt), permission must be obtained from the respective copyright owner.
Republishing entire blog posts isn't OK without contacting Dandelion Salad first and asking permission. Please use the "Press This" button at the end of the blog post if you'd like to reblog an excerpt. Thanks.